Ma$$ore is raking in the moola.

“For many years, when my father worked as the chauffer for Juan Name, he overhead many people tell his boss, ‘quiero massore,’ which he found out was the Arabic word for money. We all liked the way it sounded, so my father named our group as a tribute to him,” Erick Sánchez Tovar said during an exclusive interview at the Hispanic Entertainment Archives.

Erick is the lead singer for who is probably the hottest, most eminent Mexican cumbia group in this decade; and his father Miguel Ángel Sánchez García, a former drummer and timbales player, is Ma$$ore’s founder, general director and manager.

Musically the family’s roots go back to his maternal grandfather, Raúl Tovar Cantú, who sang and played guitar with Orquesta Carta Blanca. Erick’s mom, María Eugenia, also sings and can be heard in the chorus of “Chaparro De La Cumbia” in their latest compact disc.

As Ma$$ore, the Nueva Rosita, Coahuila, Mexico-based group dates back to the summer of 1996 when the Sánchez Tovar brothers – Miguel Ángel Jr., bass and vocals; Hugo, keyboards and lead vocals; plus five-year old Erick, who played güiro and danced. Ricardo Guadalupe, guitar and Daniel Gómez, percussion rounded up the rhythm section.

If you want to see little Erick in action, just go to www.youtube.com and type in “Massore sus inicios.”

“While most artists start counting from their first hit record, we started counting our musical career since we did our first gig at a quinceñera,” Erick said of their sixteen years in the business.

The first recording to make some waves was “El Pachuco,” a cover of a Maldita Vecindad hit. However, their father, who was very calculating and shrewd, came up with the perfect vehicle to promote his sons, in 1998 he opened Fiesta Casino Disco, which had a capacity of 1,500 people, and created his own venue – actually the ‘only’ ballroom in Nueva Rosita where regardless of who performed, the headline act was always Ma$$ore.

As their popularity grew, people came from all over to see what all the hoopla was about and this created countless other gigs.

The year 1999 became a landmark year for Ma$$ore when the release of “El Pajaro Cenzontle” off their “Sonidera” compact disc became a regional hit and the money started pouring in. This was also the year when Erick sang the intro to “El Mojado Acaudalado,” a norteño tune. While Ma$$ore is best known for their cumbias, they are also very good at interpreting norteño tunes.

“The first genre I recorded was norteño for the mere sake of losing the fear of the microphone. However, the money was in cumbias and that’s what we concentrated on, but the truth is that I’m a rocker. All I like is rock,” Erick confessed. “It’s what they say here, ‘kick ass.’

“But it would hurt me to form a rock group because no one is going to go see us because Coahuila is cumbia country. So yes my personal preference is rock and as a result, we are mixing in rock in some cumbias.”

One of those tunes is “Chapparo de La Cumbia,” an autobiographical tune written by the 5-foot-3-inch tall vocalist/timbalista, which features some fantastic heavy rock guitar licks in what could be the creation of a new music genre, rock cumbia. In addition the hybrid tune also has a few bars of hip hop.

Of his height, the diminutive vocalist said, “They say intelligence is measured from the head to heaven so I hope it’s true.”

One of the early signs of his intelligence surfaced at age eight, when Erick saw Melody, a Spanish singer perform “El Baile del Gorilla” on a kid’s television program. He envisioned it as a cumbia and since his brother Hugo is a musical arranger, he urged him to arrange it as a cumbia. It caught on at gigs. So they went to the recording studio owned by Virgilio Canales of Liberación in Monterrey to do their own take and the result was that their version, featuring Erick on lead vocals, was better than the original and it received airplay as far as the tip of South America in Argentina.

“With that theme, we had our boom and we were wanted for guest appearances on television programs,” Erick continued. “All of a sudden my father was offered $15,000 American dollars for us to perform in the United States. So he took care of getting us visas and all required documentation and took the group out of Mexico. Now instead of performing for 1,500 people, we were playing in front of crowds of 5,000 plus.

“I remember the first time we performed in San Antonio, as we drove to Planet Rodeo (now El Fuerte) and I saw long lines of people waiting to get in, I asked myself, ‘I wonder who we are opening for?’ and it was only us. We were the sole act.”

In 2001, Ma$$ore’s “El Pajaro Loco” CD contained “El Oso Polar.” However, it did not become a hit until ten years later when soccer player Matias Bozo adapted that tune and each time he made a goal, he celebrated with that tune because part of the lyrics are, “Me roba, me roba el bozo polar.” And of course oso rhymed with Bozo.

“That international television exposure brought the tune back to life. Then other groups started to cover it, but thanks to the internet, people now know we were the originals,” Erick explained.

“Four years later, I still had a child’s voice when my dad contracted one of the musicians from Los Angeles Azules and I took trumpet lessons, mastered the instrument and played trumpet on the ‘El Gato Volador’ CD. I also played the horn in some of our live shows, but no more.”

In 2006, they released “El Huevo.” That one laid a big egg,” Erick quipped.

This was followed by “Libres y Locos” and “En México Se Baila Asi” in 2007 and 2008. Two years, “La Cusinela” CD, which contained “El Baile Costeño (Arremangala, Arrenpujala),” became a huge hit and it landed Ma$$ore on Don Francisco’s “Sabado Gigante,” Charytin’s “Escandalo TV” and “El Gordo y La Flaca.”

“With ‘El Paso Del Monkey’ a year later, we went back to Miami and did ‘Nitido’ with Natalia Villaveces, ‘Despierta América’ and ‘Al Rojo Vivo.’

“It was also in 2010 that I began to write my own material after a passing through love situation,” Erick said with an innocent child’s grin. “It’s not a romantic tune, but I was crazy about someone and I wrote ‘Loco.’ ”

Ma$$ore’s had gigs galore because it made one want to dance and they had gigs galore, but CD sales waned because there was no promotion from the record company, who was now digging into their catalog and playing it safe by releasing compilation CDs.

To top it off, last year Ma$$ore did a gig in Houston without realizing that the record label owner was recording the concert for a DVD, which was later released as “En Vivo Desde Houston.”

Earlier this year they re-recorded and re-released “El Baile del Oso” to capitalize on Bozo’s use of it during soccer games and their popularity continued to grow. However, they lacked attention from the print medium.

“We had lots of work, but no publicity,” Erick said. “That’s when we realized we needed more exposure and I turned to Carlos Ramos, whom I first met at Cattleman’s Square in 2010. So in addition to radio and television, we’re seeking more print media coverage. Hence this exclusive interview with StreetTalk Magazine.”

To make sure, someone was on top of things on this side of the border, in May Erick moved to San Antonio, while his brothers, who are now all married family men, remained in Nueva Rosita.

Asked what set Ma$$ore apart from other cumbia groups, Erick said, “Cumbias are identified with drums, but I said, ‘I want to do it with timbales,’ so I changed la onda de la música cumbia and turned it into a good combination that other groups have since copied.”

Here in the states, to date, Ma$$ore has performed in Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas. So image what is going to happen when they start doing shows in California, Arizona, Illinois, Florida and other states with a heavy concentration of Latinos.

“Now the Tejano market wants Ma$$ore and that’s what led to our appearance at this year’s Tejano Music Awards. Yet our music never changed, it’s the people’s taste that is changing. We’re proud because we are crossing over into many other tastes and that our music is popular with fans of other music genres,” Erick said with a hint of pride and determination.

In spite of Erick’s quote, Ma$$ore is changing in the sense that they have become more innovative in creating new hybrids that defy definition. And Erick’s love of rock and obviously some pop is very evident in tunes such as “Yo Tengo Tu Love” in duet with Jair Alcala of El Plan. Listening to this tune, there’s no doubt that Ma$$ore can be assured of a long successful career and will become as famous as Jaguar, Mana and countless other Mexican super groups.

In “Baila, Baila,” which Erick co-wrote with Othon Guerra of Los Súper Reyes de Cruz Martínez, he raps in both Spanish and English in the tune he describes as a ‘cumbion.’

If you haven’t seen Ma$$ore in person, be sure to catch their act the next time they are in your city and rest assured that Erick will also sing the hits he recorded when he was eight and nine.

“After I warm my voice with about seven songs, I can drink some cold water and sing those songs, but in a key lower. As for rapping, while it’s hard to rap, it comes easy to me because I speak real fast.”

Erick, lead vocals and timbales; Hugo, keyboards and second voice; Miguel Ángel Jr., bass and second vocals; Manuel “Melin” Martínez, guitar; Javier López, percussion; and Edel “La Perra” Rivera, drums; make up today’s Ma$$ore.

Their father Miguel Ángel Sr. remains their manager and booking agent because as he says, “I’ve been doing their contracts since the days when no one wanted to manage us and I’ve seen how other bands are taken advantage of and how promoters steal from them and who better than their father to take care of his kids.”

“That’s right, Ma$$ore is not exclusive with anyone, only with my dad,” the 20-year-old lead vocalist said. “As for the future, que sea lo que Dios quiera (it’s whatever God wills).

For bookings, contact their father at (830) 352-6298 and for publicity/public relations; call Carlos Ramos at (210) 845-7761.

Massore will be at San Antonio’s Graham Central Station on Sunday, October 7. For other dates and venues, call Carlos.

Kandi is the “Queen of Mariachi,” a radio station owner plus a radio and television personality.

Not to be confused with Kany García, Kandi García was born Wilma Irene in San Antonio, where she attended Stafford Elementary, Anson Jones Middle School and was a member of the John Jay High School choir from where she graduated with the Class of 1982.

Her musical roots come from both sides of her family since her father Guillermo “Willie” Maldonado, with the exception of his brother Jesse, and Kandi’s uncles – José “Chepe,” Tony “El León,” Andy “El Cowboy” Maldonado and Euselio — all played guitar and sing. The latter also played accordion, harmonica and several other instruments.

On her maternal side, her mother, Irene’s brothers, Enrique, guitaron and requinto; and Ricardo Chavarria, vihuela and requinto; as Mariachi Ronda, performed at all the classy, luxury hotels and were the mainstay at the Hilton Palacio de Rio.

“With that kind of musical influence, I can honestly say that I have been singing since I could talk,” Kandi said during an interview at the Hispanic Entertainment Archives.

Therefore it is no surprise that Kandi sang at most assemblies and school talent shows during her formative years.

What sets Kandi apart from the majority of female singers is a voice that defies description. Yes, it’s strong and she hits every note with perfection, but few can few with the conviction and emotion that she puts into every song. She caresses the lyrics and sings them as the songwriter intended that his composition be interpreted.

“Last month I sang at the birthday of an 86-year-old lady and the seven-piece mariachi they had hired had already done ‘Las Mañanitas.’ What I did different was to walk up to the birthday girl, congratulate her and told everyone how special this day was and how lucky her children where to still have her. After a long spiel, I took her hand and sang ‘Las Mañanitas’ as I gazed into her eyes. I was singing from the heart and by the end of the song, there was not a dry eye in the ballroom. That is all I did different and without a mariachi group to back me up.”

In addition to gigging here and all over Texas with various mariachi groups, Kandi has also performed in New York and California.

Asked how she is able to pay Mariachi Unica, since she is always booked as Kandi y Mariachi Unica, the 48-year-old songbird said, “My entire family kind of made up that name because I’m the only one. And unica does mean ‘alone.’ Besides, I give 110 percent so I don’t need a live mariachi (group) to back me up. So I sing with pistas (music tracks) and once the audience hears me, they have no problem.”

This writer was once skeptical, but once he saw the state-of-the-art equipment Kandi set up at a gig and the sound it produced coupled with her collection of flamboyant costumes she wears, he and the entire audience soon forgot about the absence of a live mariachi because as she says, “When I sing, I do it with all my heart and with all my love.”

Asked how she received her singing title, Kandi said, “My father would say, ‘Tu eres la reina del mariachi.’ That’s how I got crowned as the queen of mariachi at 16.”

“However I don’t just sing mariachi, I also do Tejano, conjunto and country music. And I’m also a comedian”

Shifting the conversation to radio, Kandi says she began her on-the-air career during the early 1980s on KFHM, La M Grande AM 1160 with Alberto “Alegre” Calvo and Danny Casanova. In the mid ‘80s, she also taught customers how at dance at Desperado’s Tejano club.

“It was during this time that Danny, a bodyguard Ernest Choco Garza, would say, ‘You’re so sweet you give me a toothache. So after a few weeks, he and I created the nickname (Kandi), that is now my stage name,” the 48-year-old celebrity revealed.

Living up to her moniker, Kandi says, “When I perform I leave something sweet in their mind because I sing tunes that evoke memories, no matter how bad they may be, also songs about our culture and who we are, plus tunes they can sing along to so that leave a sweet taste in their mouth.”

Her most recent stint on radio was from 2009 to 2011 when she hosted her own ‘on-and-off-again’ show on KEDA, Radio Jalapeño.

“Now I own my own radio station – Texas Radio Music — and can be heard around the globe. Here I play local music and push the music that is San Antonio. I gave my station this name because Texas has a wide variety of music and I play it all.

In addition to being heard, I can also be seen on my ‘Amigos y Amigas, Mi Barrio’ internet television show.”

As for the future, Kandi says, “Growing up seeing my uncles singing “Vestido de Blanco” to the Bride at fancy weddings on the Riverwalk as a child, I thought being serenaded to as something very special, so when I turn fifty, because I am the Queen, I’m going to have a Queenceñera at the Palacio del Rio.”

All modesty aside, Kandi can be heard 24/7 at www.live365.com/index.live#cgi-bin/directory.cgi?searchdesc=Texas+Music+Radio. Just click on her picture where it says, “Texas Music Radio with Kandi G. Her vast collection of video interviews can be seen at www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/profile.php?id=1308789309 and on www.youtube.com.

In closing, Kandi, who is often hired to do mariachi exhibits and showcases in Mexico, also gives private voice lessons; and if anyone is in need of a mariachi instrument, outfit or accessory, drop by to see her at Mariachi Connection at 2106 West Commerce Street. So as can be seen, Kandi is like a mariachi one-stop.

For booking, one may contact radio and television’s new sweetheart at (210) 872-8218.

Brando Olmos and Henry “El Zapatista”

Photos by Ramón Hernández

Brandon Kerkorian Olmos is an artiste extraordinaire when it comes to music, television documentaries and films.
Growing up, as the sons of the lead singer for Eddie James and the Pacific Ocean followed by a ten-piece band called Elijah, Brandon and his brothers, Mico and Bodie could not help but grow into rock and rollers.
Their father was into psychedelic rock and can be heard letting out some blood curling screams in several of his recording, they were so unique that Wolfman Jack would often call him up just to get him to scream on his radio program. Therefore, Brandon has some funny anecdotes about him and his brothers getting dropped off at their Catholic school with rock music blasting out of the car. And that’s how the Olmos brothers got their rock roots.
“When we formed own first group, we named themselves ACME, “which stood for Africans, Caucasians, Mexicans, Etcetera,” Brandon said during an interview that started out at Gilbert’s Restaurant and continued at the Hispanic Entertainment Archives.
“Most musicians will say their biggest influence is their parents and my father had us listening to Steely Dan, Santana and others. And he would tell us it’s all about the blues and Robert Johnson is the ‘king of the blues.’ So I learned all about ‘the three Kings,’ B.B. King, Freddy King and Albert King.’
“But in our case the musician who influenced me most was Carlos Santana, a guitarist who my dad knew and would take us to see in concert. He was a huge, huge influence on us brothers and my family not as a guitar player, but in his personality and way of doing things.
“In 1992, we all moved to New York where we decided to start playing the blues. We worked the clubs throughout the Harlem blues circuit and we did really well because we had a different vibe. We recorded two albums as Elijah and I can’t believe it has been 15 years.
In New York, where he majored in music at Hunter College, Brandon also performed with NYC blues legend, Michael Powers. And along the way, true blues fans stood in line at clubs where he played for packed houses.
In 1999, Brandon entered the film industry as the associate producer and sound editor for ‘The Americanos Concert,” a PBS television special that was filmed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. and featured Gloria Estefan, José Feliciano and Edward James Olmos.
In 2002, Brandon worked as a sound re-recording mixer in two films, “Trip to Tehuacan” and “The Last Winter” plus was the assistant sound editor in all 22 episodes of the “American Family” television series which starred his father, his brother Bodie, San Antonio’s own Nicholas González, Raquel Welch, Sonia Braga, Esai Morales, Rachel Ticotin, Jay Hernández, Michael Peña, Mark Consuelos, Kate del Castillo and virtually every known Hispanic/Latino in Hollywood. If 22 episodes weren’t enough, before the year ended Brandon joined the post-production team of “Crossing Jordan” as a sound editor for 35 episodes and this took him into 2004 when he also worked on “The Devil Cats.”
Other credits include “Shortstop,” “Walkout,” a television movie which also starred his father and brother Bodie plus Laura Harring, Yancy Arias, Efren Ramírez, Jeremy Ray Valdez, Alexa Vega and a slew of more Hispanic actors; plus “Hollywood Familia,” and all these productions occurred in 2006.
In the fall of 2008 Brandon came to San Antonio to produce a compact disc for Dalila and Diane Muñoz of the Latin Grammy nominated Amor y Pasión, then he wound up playing bass guitar with their back-up band, which was Elijah Zane and the Experience, a group of bluesmen and Texas rock’n’rollers that were the house band at a bar on Broadway Avenue.
“This is where I first saw people dancing on top of tables and I told myself, ‘Oh my goodness, I love Texas.’ Since then we have played all over Texas and in several battle of the bands contests,” Brandon continued. “It was a wonderful experience because I saw and learned how talented Texas musicians are in all genres.
“Next I got involved in social activism through Jaimé Martínez and met new people in that community. Then through my friendship with Brandy (López), I got to meet a lot of Tejano musicians.
And when I did a gig with Roger Velásquez at Jesse Borrego’s house, where we did some Bob Marley and Santana tunes, I saw that Tejano musicians can play anything and that showed me a bigger picture, that Tejanos are totally bi-cultural and they are able play both Latin and American music authentically.”
Thus the music kept Brandon in the Alamo City for a while.
However, his film making creative juices never stopped flowing and in 2010 Brandon released his first film “La Gloria: Contemporary Art in the Cultural Zone.” A documentary about the San Antonio artist community and the yearly event put on by local Westside artists (wwwlagloriaarts.com). In addition he was the director, did all the film editing and was the sound re-recording mixer. This documentary featured Jesse Treviño, artist; Yvette Shadrock, artist; Ramón Vásquez, poet; Gabriel Velásquez, artist, organizer, culture catalyst and visionary.
“About two years ago, I was considering leaving San Antonio when I met Aaron Lee López, in the parking lot of my office. He was a film maker from here who had worked in L.A. in ‘Inception’ and ‘The Hangover’ and we started to collaborate together. Our first production, with López and Mutt Productions mixed with some crew from Hollywood, was ‘The Return of Johnny V,’ a Texas grind-house rock on and socking revenge thriller starring Aaron’s Brother Paul Matthew López and starlet Dana De La Garza.”
Aaron directed the film and Brandon was one of the associate producers, the supervising sound editor, sound mixer and underwater cameraman.
This year, Brandon and Aaron traveled to Hollywood to film “Miles to Go” directed by Quincy Rose. This film marked Brandon’s fourteenth credit as a sound mixer or post audio supervisor/re-recording mixer on a feature film.
Meanwhile Brandon, continues to fill his weekends playing bass with Elijah Zane, which consists of Elijah, lead vocals, lead guitar and songwriter; Brando, bass and groove; Alfonso Nuñez, saxophone, harmonica and backup vocals; Rubén Alvarado, percussion and soundman; and Rickey Pichardo on drums.
“When I first met Elijah, it was like déjà vu because my father’s second band was Elijah plus my brothers and I had performed and recorded as Elijah in the 1990s. So I felt that I was in the right place at the right time.”
The fact that Brandon is also very spiritual is in the fact that he once played in a Gospel band on Sunday mornings; and as he once told another reporter, “Can I get an Amen. It (Gospel music) comes from a Divine source and touches people far beyond a group of musicians and its audience.”
As far as making films, Olmos and López just premiered “Dani the Ranch Hand” in July and they are planning to shoot a remake of the 1981 made-for-television movie, “Three Hundred Miles for Stephanie,” which originally starred his father, Tony Orlando, Pepe Serna, Rosanna De Soto, Gregory Sierra, local artists like Rosita Fernández, José Armando, Arturo Támez and many others, but with some of today’s top Hispanic stars plus many locals.
The next premiere for Olmos & Lopez’s Mutt Productions will be a documentary that is titled “Two Fiddles & an Accordion” and stars Rick Orozco, Rubén Ramos, Sunny Sauceda, Rudy Sarzo, Joél Guzmán, and many others! The premiere is set for November 8th at the Woodlawn Theater.
For more information on Brandon, go to www.facebook.com/brandon.keropianolmos, www.inmag.com/profiles/brandon-olmos.html for an awesome in-depth interview, www.imdb.com/name/nm2067382, a great interview by Jordan Gass-Poore at www.slackerwood.com/node/3031, http://sacurrent.com/screens/film/brandon-keropian-olmos-on-creating-mood-and-communicating-heartbreak-1.1344342, www.elijahzane.com, www.facebook.com/elijahzanemusic#!/elijahzanemusic/info and www.aa-agency.com/talent/artist/elijah-zane-and-experience. For a wide assortment of photographs go to https://www.google.com/search?q=brandon+keropian+olmos&hl=en&rlz=1T4SNCA_en___US429&prmd=imvnso&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=F8g_UJHrM6qw2gWd54DYDA&ved=0CD8QsAQ&biw=993&bih=887 and for this article on the web, go to www.streettalkmag.com
And if you haven’t guessed by now, the father of this Motion Picture Editor’s Guild member is none other than Edward James Olmos.